It's time to clear the air -- twice over

First things, first: a correction.
I managed, in my recent column item regarding the potential sale of Acacia Country Club, to magically move the old Donald Ross- designed golf course from Cedar Road in Lyndhurst all the way to Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood. No easy feat, I understand.
So I will repeat the message I passed along (red-faced, if that's possible via email) to my old friend John Hexter when he pointed out my mistake: “Argh ... and to think of all the times I've been there.”
It is indeed in Lyndhurst, near the Legacy Village shopping development, and has been the target of would-be developers for many years. Most recently, the Conservation Fund had submitted a bid of nearly $15 million to preserve the land.
But as John so correctly pointed out to me, the challenge then becomes the cost of upkeep, assuming it isn't just left to be an overgrown chunk of land. No municipality in Ohio seems to have a lot of extra cash laying around looking for a use.
“The situation is a perfect rationale for county government and for removing city boundaries,” John wrote. “I would never write a letter that claims to know the best use of the property, but I fear for the future costs unless someone is able to endow it now for perpetual care.”
But think for a moment about his point regarding a county with no boundaries. Imagine the political influence of Cleveland (or “Cuyahoga,” for that matter) as a single entity, much like San Francisco.
Wow.
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DESPITE ALL THE FUSS by some about the potential environmental damage of hydraulic fracturing, there has been another upside raised in addition to the economic boon it promises for Ohio. The air is cleaner.
Here was the lead paragraph from an Associated Press storylast week: “In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the United States has fallen dramatically in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.”
The story went on to explain that the rapid change caught many global climate scientists by surprise, in part because it was happening as a result of market forces rather than regulatory demands. Certainly, conservation efforts and the sluggish economy contribute. However, a report by the U.S. Energy Information Agency said the presence in our air of carbon dioxide — the greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere — has fallen to 1992 levels.
That will continue, as other energy-needy manufacturers and processors shift to take advantage of cheap natural gas. And Ohio sits atop one of the greatest and richest sources of oil and natural gas in the Utica Shale.
It's another reason to feel hopeful about the Buckeye State, and God knows we've long needed a good boost in our economic engine.